Knitting ball carrier or similar article



Dec. 29, 1936. c MEYER 2,066,155

KNITTING BALL! CARRIER OR SIMILAR ARTICLE 7 Filed May 8, 1935 INVENTORII, 1' BY Patented Dec. 29, 1936 STATS cries Max C. Meyer, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Application May 8, 1935, Serial No. 20,324

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in knitting ball carriers orsimilar articles, being particularly directed to a device adapted to becarried in the hand for enclosing and carrying material of varying bulk,as, for example, knitting yarn from which thread may be unwound whilebeing carried.

Broadly, it is an object of this invention to provide, among otherthings, a carrier in the form of a flexible grill or bar assembly, insubstantially spherical conformation, in which yarn in the ball or likeshape may be disposed for use in knitting, the carrier being adapted tobe maintained in operative position While permitting withdrawal ofstrands of yarn, and at the same time maintaining the ball or like shapein proper confined condition through adjustabllity of the elements inthe carrier.

Specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a carrier foryarn balls or the like, incorporating a plurality of substantiallyhemispherical grill or cage-like sections interlocked with one anotherabout a diameter to form a spherical cage-like construction, one end ofthe cage-like construction being rigidly assembled and the other endbeing adjustable to provide varying openings for insertion or removal ofmaterial therefrom, the peripheral jointure of the two hemisphericalsections being adjustable and the material forming the carrier beingsubstantially resilient.

These and other advantages, capabilities, and features of the inventionwill appear from the subjoined detailed description of one specific em-1 bodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whichFigure l is a perspective view of the device.

Figure 2 is a plan view looking upwardly, of the device shown in Figure1.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a section of the receptacle.

Figure 4 is a partial plan view, looking downwardly, of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the device with respective sectionsdisplaced.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of a section of the receptacle in expandedposition.

Referring to the reference characters in the drawing, numerals H3 and IIrepresent substantially hemispherical grill sections of resilientmaterial, in this instance cellulose acetate, which originally has beenwound spirally about a mandrel during an extrusion process, and whichthereafter has been treated, as, for example, by compression, to providea flattened continuous strip of resilient material having two series ofconvex faces 12 and I3 with respect to a vertical axis, the respectivemembers of each series being substantially equi-distant from one anotherin relation to the vertical axis, thereby to form a double-walledcontinuous grilled construction, the respective members of each seriesbeing parallel to one another and angularly disposed in zigzag formationwith respect to the adjacent members of the other series. The flattenedcontinuous strip thereafter is bent about a vertical axis to form asubstantially semi-spherical-like grill-like double-walled construction,the free ends it and E5 of the strip being united by adhesion ormechanical fastening medium.

As shown in the dotted lines of Figure 3, two of the semi-spherical-likedouble-walled strips Ill and H are disposed one above the other with thelooped edges It and ill of the respective strips interposed between oneanother, in alternate relationship (see Figure l) the two sections beinginterlocked in such relationship through the passage of a flexible andresilient thread or like element It through the said loops it and It andfastened at its free ends, the said resilient thread serving to form theelement determining the circumference of the carrier being formed.

After thread is has been passed through the loops of the upper and lowersections [0 and II, the assembly produced is as shown in the dottedlines in Figure 3. Thereafter, a thread I9 is passed through loops 20 atthe free end of the lower section l l and the ends thereof tied, therebyforming a predetermined restricted aperture 2! to define the base of thecarrier. The elements of the section II upon application of the threadill take the position shown in full lines in Figure 3.

Through the loop 22 at the free edge of section It) is passed adouble-looped thread 23, the free end of which thread passes throughlooped end 25 to form an aperture for the carrier of variable diameter26 (see Figure 4), the free end of the thread 23 being looped asat 23 tobe carried on the arm or a support. After the thread 23 has beeninserted through the loops 22 of section I ii the said section takes theconfiguration shown in the full lines of Figure 3, thereby providing inconjunction with section I I for the formation of the spherical-likeassembly shown in Figure 1.

As shown in Figure 1, a ball of wool or the like, 21, is insertablethrough aperture 25 of the carrier, the aperture being increased byloosening the looped thread 23 to permit insertion of the ball withinthe carrier, andthereafter the aperture 2% is restricted in size bydrawing the loop and maintaining the loop in position shown in Figures 1and 3 by supporting the loop as at 23' upon the arm or a fixed support,the aperture 26 remaining in restricted form due to the great pull onthe thread 23 when the carrier is supported. As shown in Figure 1, thefree end 28 of the knitting ball passes through aperture 26 forwithdrawal of yarn.

As sufficient amount of yarn is withdrawn through aperture 25 thediameter 'of the yarn ball 21 decreases, whereupon the flexible thread18 originally under tension when the large ball has been inserted in thecarrier, contracts as shown in Figure 6, from the dotted line to thefull line position, thereby decreasing the diameter of the carrier, andmaintaining pressure on the wool ball therein contained. As shown inFigure 5, as the wool ball decreases in size, and flexible and resilientthread I8 contracts, the grill members of the respective sections In andII have a tendency to slide towards each other at the looped endsthereof, through which thread l8 passes, particularly when the carrier,instead of being supported at the loop of thread 23, ispermitted to reston a support.

Although the material here shown is in the nature of a resilientcontinuous strip of cellulose acetate or like material, it is within theprovince of this invention to apply continuous strips of resilient metalor non-metal, or to apply interconnected segments of such material,whether flexible or not, so long as a resilient means is provided tocontrol the diameter of the carrier and means are provided for anexpansible aperture for insertion of material into the carrier.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made to thedetails of construction without departing from the general spirit of theinvention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A carrier for knitting balls or similar articles, comprising areceptacle formed of flexible interlocked grill sections, each havingfree ends, expansible means connecting the respective grill sections andserving to control the diameter of the carrier, means for connecting thefree ends of one of the grill sections to form an extensible aperturefor the carrier, said lastnamed means serving to provide a loop forsupporting the carrier, the apertureof said carrier when supported bysaid loop being restricted.

2. A carrier for knitting balls or the like, comprising a receptacleformed of a plurality of open ended grilled sections, each of saidgrilled sections being formed of a single strip of material shaped toprovide looped edges, means passing through the loops of contiguousedges of said grilled sections to interlock said grilled sectionstherealong, said last-named means being extensible and serving tocontrol the circumference'of the receptacle, meanspassing through theloops of the free edge of one of said grilled sections to form arestricted aperture and extensible means passing through the loops ofthe free edge of the other grilled section to form an extensibleaperture for said receptacle, to provide for insertion of a knittingball or the like, said'last-named extensible means being looped fordisposition upon a support.

3. A carrier for knitting balls orthe like, comprising a spherical-likereceptacle formed of a plurality of open ended semi-spherical grilledsections, each formed of a continuous strip of material having loopsdefining the top and bottom edges thereof, an extensible elementthreaded through loops of the continuous edges of said grilled membersto interlock the same and means threaded through the loops of the freeedges of the semi-spherical grilled sections to provide end apertures,the threaded means forming one of said apertures being extensible,thereby to provide for an extensible aperture.

4. A carrier for knitting balls or similar articles comprising areceptacle formed of a plurality of open ended semi-spherical grilledsections, each formed of a continuous length of material and havinglooped edges, extensible means passing throughthe contiguous loopededges of said grilled semi-spherical sections to interlock the same,means passing through loops of the free edge of one of saidhemispherical grilled sections to form a restricted aperture andextensible means passing through the loops of the free edge of the otherhemispherical grilled section to form an expansible aperture, serving topermit of expansion of said carrier, upon insertion of a knitting ball,and adapted as a knitting ball is reduced in size upon withdrawal of astrand through one of the apertures to conform the receptacle to theshape of the knitting ball.

5. A carrier for knitting balls or similar articles, comprising areceptacle formed of a plurality of open ended grilled sections havinglooped edge formations, an extensible thread passed through contiguousedge formations of the respective semi-spherical grilled sections toform an expansible interlock between said grilled sections and toprovide a substantially spherical-like formation to the carrier,threading means passing through the free edge formations of therespective grilled sections to form restricted apertures, one of saidlast-named threading means being extensible to provide an expansibleaperture for insertion or removal of a knitting ball or the like.

6. A carrier for knitting balls or similar articles, comprising areceptacle formed of open ended flexible semi-spherical grilledsections, said grilled sections having looped edges, extensible meanspassing through adjacent looped edges thereof to interlock therespective sections, and means threaded through the loops of the freeedges of said grilled sections for forming restricted apertures, therebyto conform the receptacle substantially to the contour of a knittingball or similar article, the means threaded through the loops of thefree edge of one of said grilled sections being extensible, thereby topermit the expansion thereof for insertion and removal of a knittingball.

7. A carrier for knitting balls or similar articles, comprising areceptacle formed of open ended flexible semi-spherical grilledsections, said grilled sections having looped edges, extensible meanspassing through adjacent looped edges thereof to interlock therespective sections, and means passing through the loops of the freeedges of said grilled sections for forming restricted apertures, therebyto conform the receptacle substantially to the contour of a knittingball or similar article, the means threaded through the loops of thefree edge of one of said grilled sections being extensible, thereby topermit the expansion thereof for insertion and removal of a knittingball, said extensible means having a looped formation at the end thereoffor providing a support for the receptacle.

MAX C. MEYER.

